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Like most kids his age, Ben McLaughlin’s favourite activities are watching TV, playing computer games and snacking. But last year, the 11-year-old Fredericton, N.B., resident noticed his weight starting to creep up and wasn’t sure what to do.

His mother, Misty McLaughlin, was also concerned. So when Ben turned to her for advice, she explained the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle and encouraged him to join in on family walks and rethink his food choices. She also told him about a non-competitive after-school fitness program at the University of New Brunswick, where she worked, and offered to sign him up.

The program, called KIN Kids, is designed by UNB’s Faculty of Kinesiology to research the effects of exercise on children between ages five to 12 who are not accustomed to physical activity and may be at risk of developing obesity. The fun-filled games involve jumping and running games and are aimed at building confidence and self-worth. Ben hesitated but finally agreed, and within a few sessions he was hooked.

“I’d feel tired after the class, but I felt good because after you do anything that’s physically active you feel a lot better,” says Ben, who has switched his late-night snack from toast, peanut butter and popcorn to almond butter and fruit. “All these games and stuff, it kind of opened up my mind to what physical activity is.”

Ben is one of the lucky ones. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, more than half of Canadian children and youth are not active enough for optimal growth and development. Canadian girls are less active than boys, with only 38 per cent of girls and 48 per cent of boys considered active enough. That’s problematic because obese children tend to become obese adults and face an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, orthopedic problems and other chronic diseases.

The sooner kids start adopting a healthy lifestyle, experts say, the sooner they set themselves up for a healthier life.

“The single thing we can do to help children help themselves is to reduce time sitting,” says Edmonton’s Dr. Claire LeBlanc, chair of the Canadian Paediatric Society’s Healthy Active Living and Sport Medicine Committee.

LeBlanc helped develop Canada’s Physical Activity Guides for Children and Youth, which advocates at least 60 minutes per day of exercise for the average child.

But she discourages pushing overweight kids to the gym “where everybody looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger” because they are self-conscious about their bodies. Rather, she says, they need fitness programs “where other kids look like them.” Walking is healthy for them although it can be tiring because of their extra weight. Swimming is a good choice even if the child insists on wearing track pants into the water. Weight training is a great confidence builder in overweight boys, she adds, because “they’re already stronger than a lot of their skinny friends.”

It’s also important that kids have role models, particularly their parents. Registered dietitian Tristaca Caldwell of Halifax urges parents to show, not tell. Stop being “the food police,” she says, and instead choose activities the child likes and then do them together.

“Parents must pay attention to their nutrition, that they’re eating the foods they want their kids to eat, that they’re finding ways of being active and doing it as a family,” she says. “It’s tricky when the parents aren’t ready to make those changes themselves.”

Devon McGregor says children crave guidance. The owner of Toronto’s Balance gym says parents are partly to blame for their children’s fitness and nutrition difficulties by shunning extracurricular activities, offering unhealthy snacks and supporting funding cuts to school gym programs. He urges parents to judge kids by their own standards rather than comparing them to others. If they can’t do chin-ups, for example, he has them jump to the bar instead so they build self-esteem.

“Once we get a child in this environment with an individual they’re comfortable with, who they’re motivated by, who they trust and respect, they will always make a shift,” he says.

But LeBlanc cautions that when it comes to eating — or not eating — it could be a symptom of something bigger going on in a child’s life.

She says divorce, death, moving, bullying and other difficult or painful experiences can all contribute to childhood depression so it’s important to check for signs and call in the family doctor or a mental health expert for an assessment. Signs of trouble include a youth who is disengaged, wants to stay home, loses interest in friends or hasn’t any, and withdraws from activities.

“Know your child,” she says. “If you have any concerns that your child is less interactive than they were before, seek out medical attention in terms of the possibility that there might be a psychological reason why this particular individual is less active or overeating or eating inappropriately.”

Ben McLaughlin, who has managed to get on the right track, has this simple advice to get kids his age off the couch.

“Try stuff,” he says. “If you don’t like it, try another thing and try and try and try. Because once you get to that point where you like it, you’ll really want to do it more and more and more. You’ll say, ’That looks cool. Maybe I should try it.’ You really have to be open and willing to try it if you’re going to change.”

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Tips for parents

Prof. Angelo Belcastro, chair of York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science and a researcher with University of New Brunswick’s KIN Kids program, offers these tips for parents looking to help their kids adopt healthier lifestyles:

- Find out what activity your child likes rather than what you like. Kids need to feel successful or it will reinforce negativity.

- Focus on non-competitive, non-structured activities with attainable goals. Starting with a few steps and throws rather than a marathon builds confidence and allows children to progress at their own pace and feel good about being active.

- Provide opportunities to be active. Don’t take play out of the equation but instead offer downtime that encourages movement.

Tips for kids

Tristaca Caldwell, a registered dietitian in Halifax, has seen an increase in the number of teenage boys with disordered eating behaviours. She takes a non-dieting approach, encouraging kids to think of food as fuel and helping them to get in tune with their hunger and fullness cues.

Here are her tips for kids:

- Be patient. It takes time to make lifestyle changes so stay committed.

- Feed your body. Make sure you’re eating enough because it helps you be stronger and stay on course. Complex carbohydrates, for instance, keep blood glucose levels steady and ward off cravings.

- Try new activities. If you don’t like team sports but like to dance, pick up a dance DVD to gain confidence at home before joining a class.

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